As part of our annual review of defamation law in the jurisdiction, we examine two notable reported judgments from 2021 and, as the Northern Ireland Assembly’s legislative programme reaches the final stages, the nature of the reforms proposed by the Defamation Bill. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Category: Government and Policy (Page 3 of 38)
Rarely mentioned in the news media since it began, Boris Johnson’s Government has been quietly paying a special Coronavirus subsidy to the big newspaper groups for nearly two years. Details are scarce, but the bulk of this taxpayers’ money appears to have gone to organisations that (a) were wealthy enough to survive the crisis without special help and (b) generally support the Government through their partisan journalism. Continue reading
When it comes to online safety—or its flip side, online harms—many countries are grappling with the problem. What is the role of government in establishing guidelines and regulations for the protection of citizens, particularly vulnerable segments of the population, from a range of harms perpetrated by anti-social and even criminal elements via the internet? What is the role of “internet intermediaries”, the internet distribution and social media platforms that the perpetrators use to attack their victims? Continue reading
The Ministry of Justice (“MoJ”) Consultation, “Human Rights Act Reform: A modern Bill of Rights” (the “Consultation”), contains proposals that tips the balance between “respect for private and family life.” (A.8) and freedom of expression and to impart information (A.10) in favour of the latter (A.10). Continue reading
Lying in politics is nothing new. And while state and political actors have always enjoyed an outsized influence on public discourse, the digital age provides an abundance of new tools for these actors to magnify their voices in unprecedented ways. Across the globe, these actors are leveraging the advantages of social media to disseminate disinformation for the purpose of improperly manipulating public opinion. Continue reading
The UK government has promised that its new app, expected to launch in late 2022, will be a one-stop shop, simplifying access to a wide range of government services. But issues of surveillance and access are just some of the questions yet to be addressed. Continue reading
It went almost unnoticed in the Queen’s Speech earlier this year when she proclaimed that ‘legislation will be introduced to counter hostile activity by foreign states’. Two days later the government announced a Home Office consultation on its legislative proposals which will run until 22 July 2021. Continue reading
The criminalisation of drill music by the Metropolitan Police denies artists and producers of their right to freedom of expression. This article situates this genre-specific censorship in its racial context, considers the Article 10 European Convention on Human Rights implications, and summarises what other European jurisdictions have done when faced with violent lyrics. Continue reading
On 15 December 2020, the Government published its full response to the Online Harms White Paper, confirming that the Online Harms Bill will establish a new statutory duty of care which is intended to make online companies take responsibility for the safety of their users. Continue reading
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever that we are at risk of losing control of our economies. Our institutions have increasingly struggled to meet the challenges of economic development before the crisis, and yet throughout the pandemic we’ve seen surging stock market valuations of tech giants — including staggering CEO salaries — the inability of anti-trust regulators, particularly in the United States, to effectively regulate markets and the rise of China’s tech companies. Continue reading
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